Life is good

These pictures are from a few weeks ago.  Jonas and I went out to the ranch to convert a few sick trees into firewood.  Here you see the inside of the ol' truck.  Still goin' despite the rust and the electrical issues.  The truck, not Jonas.

Happy dog, looking forward to a full day of supervising.

A pretty good indication that what proceeds will be fun.

The canopy before we begin.  Note all the odd bends and angles.  By some strange coincidence, the trees I cut never grow straight or have a clean fall line.

Look at that hinge!

Makin' a clear fall line.

Jonas likes to supervise.

The primary target.  I'm pretty proud of my problem solving skills here.  The tree was rotten (as you can see) from the roots to about half way up and posed a real challenge to a controlled fall.  Using a humboldt undercut allowed me to take advantage of the worst of the rot, and cutting high increased the "good" wood to help control the fall.  Plus the stump makes a great end table now.

Paul Bunyan's pick up sticks.

Rest.

Supervision duties have concluded for the day.

Nothin' like a well earned hammock ride... 

does that tree look a little crooked to you?

Hangin' out

 After a day of horseback riding.

 After a day of mountain biking.

 Cut down, bucked up, and split three trees.

 Great place to do some school work!

Weeded and planted all day.

Thanks for the awesome hammock Veneta!

Aprons

I'm a bit behind on blogging.  It's been a bit busy up here lately what with spring planting, summer gardening, horses, farm festivals, work, and school.  That's not a complaint mind you(well, the last two might be), just an excuse for not being inside on the computer.  Another excuse, if I need one, is that the weather has been fantastic and we've spent several evenings sitting by the fire.  Campfire season is always so welcome, like greeting an old friend!

This post should wrap up the winter activities series.  This past winter was fantastic!  I got new old cross country skis and worked on that skill, built an end table that is effective if not elegant, and did several leather projects.  So far, these aprons are examples of my best work.  They started life as an 8 oz side of leather.

You can see some of the blemishes here.  It was a fun challenge to use all of the leather and incorporate the brands and marks in a pleasing way.

I cut the leather to a similar pattern, but made Adam's a little bit longer thinking he could use the length to kneel on while he works on his bikes or whatever.  Dad's is a little shorter as stained glass work doesn't require so much kneeling.

These buckles were fun to make.  I like using the rivets and grommets to give the whole thing a little bit beefier look.  Hopefully they hold up.

You can see my sketchbook here.  If I keep making these, I'll need to standardize some of the measurements and patterns to make the work go faster.  The pockets and loops could definitely be made with a standardized pattern even if the size of the apron changes a little.

These knives were the starting point for the whole apron.  I saw a short film about R Murphy Knives and was stoked to see affordable blades made in the US.  These shop knives were too cool, and I immediately saw a shop apron take shape around them.  Since I already made my apron and have a critical mass of knives, these became gifts.

The workbench.  Multifaceted and super handy!

One apron, almost done.

Attaching the hammer loop.

Thanks again to Veneta for hand delivering the finished product.

May flowers!

As usual, our spring has been a little weird, here. The winter was long and cold and then we got off to fits and starts with warm spells broken up by snow. Anyway, it appears we're "full on" now with rain and blooms and sun and clouds and birds like crazy! We've been having a good time of it all.

Sam and I hunted last weekend.  Again, more of a naturalist's expedition than hunting, but it's amazing to be awake from 4 am until 10 pm.  Reflecting on the day feels like reflecting on a week.

This is the barn that Jay and I were thinking about deconstructing.  Thinking about it until we saw it, that is.  The owners have visions of people coming out and paying them to take wood and items from the barn.  Pretty funny.  Anyway, It's full of beautiful 150 year old oak beams, but obviously it's out of our league.

 

Sarah, Jenn, Zhora, and I went to celebrate Cinco de Star Wars at the Argos Inn on May 3.  They were playing Star Wars all day for May the Fourth and had the Tellez Mexican Grill catering.  We watched as they handmade our tortillas and filled them with fresh off the grill chicken, beef, and veggies, and loaded them up with pico de gallo... can you tell I was impressed?

The drinks at the Argos are pretty good, too.  I had a mint julep to celebrate the derby.  Go California Chrome!

Familiar light switches at the Argos.

Sarah got an airbrushed tattoo and we tried to encourage Zhora, but she was too shy.

Of course we spent some time with the horses, too.

Sometime last week Sarah and I took out the compost.

Trillium always mark the beginning of spring for me, and they just bloomed the middle of this past week.  I saw these ones while I was out on a run. 

The run went poorly, so I took some pictures while I waited around for the waves of nausea to pass.  This is my outfit for my lumberjack runs.  I think I'll go to the thrift store for a flannel to cut the arms off of and cut the legs off some jeans to make a summer lumberjack outfit.  Sometimes I have to stop running to laugh at myself... which is a good core work out.

Saturday night at the swamp.  I watched bats swoop down to grab insects off the water.  Mergansers flew overhead while a turkey gobbled on the far side of the hill.   Life is good.

 

All the best to the rest of you!  

If you get a chance, check out the blog below.  I'm trying to raise $500 for the Youth Farmers at LACS.  Any amount helps.  Just follow the link and donate to my page.  100% of the donations go straight to the young farmers who, in turn, support our community and our future.  Thanks for considering it.

A few cool ways to spend your money

I've been feeling philanthropic lately.  I'm not sure why since it seems that Sarah and I have already been making regular contributions to several individuals' vet school loans.  Regardless, I thought I'd "share the wealth".

A friend and mentor of mine is involved in the Youth Farm Project here in Ithaca.  Dan is one of the best educators I've had the privilege to know.   Every year he helps kids realize the benefits of labour and hard work and helps them to reap both philosophical and physical rewards.  The students sell their produce at farmers markets, donate to local food pantries and soup kitchens, and supply the cafeteria at Lehman Alternative Community School.  They have gotten to the point where they need a tractor and some other forms of equipment!  It's pretty exciting and also daunting.  Farm equipment is very expensive, so what they are asking for is a little bit of money from a lot of people.  I know the teacher and several of the students personally and vouch for the program fully.  If you can contribute, that would be awesome.  I have set up an account here: http://keith.peaksmaker.com/  If you pass the link along, that would be great!  Click on the image for more information and to contribute.


Cornell's Lab of Ornithology released a birding app called Merlin.  It is free.  It has no ads.  It is awesome.  Every time you identify a bird, it uses that information to improve the search results for the entire community.  If you're not the altruistic sort, remember that that community includes you.  If you are the altruistic sort, I'd encourage you to make a donation.  You can donate any amount, but if you select the "renew" option and donate $44, they will subscribe you to a really great magazine produced by the lab.

The American Prairie Reserve has a goal of creating an American Serengeti of 3 MILLION acres.  Click on the image to view their website.  You can donate there, or for more fun, you can support them by drinking some really great whiskey.  If you're still not convinced, check out the video below.  George Monbiot makes an incredible case for rewilding.  It's easy to imagine the impact of the loss of prey animals, but his argument for top tier predators is compelling.  His full ted talk is here.

 

I'll just give you one more for now.  The Arbor Day Foundation produces one of the best tree identification guides around.  Trust me, I've tried a lot of them.  While you're there, drop just $15 on a membership and they'll send you 10 trees and a one year subscription to their publication, which is, oddly, printed on paper.

Remember, philanthropy is largely up to those of us in the middle.  Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth is, largely, a fraud.   I always did hate Monopoly.

Another turkey season begins

No grilling tonight.